Accidents Happen
by upside-down dreamer
Summary: The ER has to deal with a major incident, but when some of the patients turn out to be people they know, how do they react? [Yes i'm bad at summaries] [Chapter 4 posted] RayNeela
1. Accidents Happen

Hey, so this is my first fan fic, I'm sorry if it's bad, but please R&R, constructive critisism is always appreciated!

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Chapter 1: Accidents Happen 

'…and the guy in exam 1.' said Abby, handing over the last of three charts to Neela. Abby had had a long night shift and was glad to be finally getting off home. The early morning was the quietest time in the ER, the drunks had all gone home, most people weren't even awake yet; it was taking all the coffee she could find to keep Neela's eyelids from collapsing. She went through the first half hour in a sort of daze, checking on the patients who had stayed overnight and ordering tests on the women who had just arrived with a broken arm.

And then the emergency response unit called in. No one knew how, but two of the el trains had collided at a station not far from county, and they had been designated primary hospital, and ordered to take in 5 of the critical patients an countless walking wounded. As the team, Kovac, Pratt, Moris, Neela, and Sam kitted up, waiting for the impending storm, the tension was practically audible. They had taken major incidents before, but with 5 critical casualties the team knew they'd be stretched.

It was 10 minutes later when the first casualty came in. Neela and Pratt ran over to help the paramedic. 'White female, early 30s, a pole went through her stomach, she has a ruptured spleen and internal haemorrhaging.' The paramedic reeled off. 'Heart rates down, BP's low, and her sats are down too. It wasn't until Neela looked down till any of them realised who it was. "Abby?" Neela was shocked and stopped, but Pratt's voice made her act as he shouted "get her into trauma room 1."

Neela and Pratt worked hard on Abby, finally managing to get her stable after 2 and a half hours in trauma. Kovac had made one of the patients stable, and one had been DOA, but he was struggling to get his patient, a white male, late 20s, stable.

Walking out of the trauma room, to go and get some test results back, Neela bumped into Sam, carrying 4 units of blood. She avoided Neela's eyes and darted into trauma room 2. 'That's odd', thought Neela, but she put it to one side, filling in the forms to go off with the tests. When she finished the forms Pratt handed Neela a pile of charts. 'You need to get through these stat,' he told her. "We've all spent so long in trauma that no one's been attending to the walking wounded."

Neela threw herself into attending to the walking wounded, seeing mostly to broken arms and minor burns. Even when, 2 hours later, they had seen to all the wounded from the accident, and she was explaining to a hysterical mother that her daughter's nose bleed wasn't going to kill her did she realise that she was trying to avoid something. She almost bumped into Sam in the corridor for the second time that day when Sam stared at her.

'Have you taken a break yet?'

Neela shook her head

'Over 4 hours and you didn't think to get a glass of water?'

Neela shook her head again. Now she came to think about it, she did have a headache and she was hungry, and thirsty.

'Go and get one, and you could probably do with something to eat. Then you can go and see Abby, she's back from the OR and her test results are back too. She should be fine.'

After a coffee and a muffin, Neela went to see Abby. They had a quick chat, then Neela went back to work. She was walking over to Kovac, to get him to check the chart of the girl with the nosebleed when she saw who was lying in trauma room 2 with tubes sticking out of him. Ray.

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Well, that's the first chapter, i hope you all like it. Please Please Please review. Thanks. Upside-down Dreamer. 


	2. Can it get any worse?

Thank you to lorilann, Flame31, methehuman, Melanie Prichett, espergirl04, roxy and Jen's Lost ER, for reviewing. I appreciate it sooo much.

Another thing: I forgot to add a disclaimer onto chapter 1, obviouslyI don't own ER, I'm not filthy rich, and I don't live in a mansion. On the same thred I don't live in the U, and i believe you guys have season 12 now? If so I havent seen any of it, so please, no spoilers. Well, here's the second chapter:

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Chapter 2: Can it get any worse?

Neela's body seemed to be acting of it's own accord, making her walk into the trauma room, even though her head didn't want to. She stood there staring at Ray, going over his chart and making a mental picture of what had happened that day. He had had 16 units of blood go through him, so he must have lost a lot, and it had taken nearly 4 hours to get him stable. He had had internal bleeding, in his abdomen and his brain, and he needed major surgery. He moved his arm, and she drew back, she didn't ant him to know she was here. She didn't know what she was doing here. She wanted to deny it, wanted to pretend that she wasn't feeling what she thought she was feeling. She couldn't. There was no way on earth that she could. But she did. When she had almost lost him, without even knowing it, she'd finally come to realise that she wanted to be with Ray. 'But you love Michael', her inner voice said, the voice who was still trying to deny this feeling. 'You can't possibly love Ray'. She got up quickly and walked out the room, afraid that she was becoming addicted to just watching him sleep.

She spent the rest of her shift thinking about him, trying desperately hard not to, but failing. When she finally finished her shift, she visited Abby, then, whilst leaving she bumped into Kovac. He told her that Ray had come out of the OR and was going to be OK, knowing that they were roommates and she would want to know. She dawdled back to their flat, arriving to find it empty, almost lifeless. She flicked on the TV and cooked herself dinner but she found she couldn't eat it. She hadn't been paying attention to the sitcom that was showing on the TV but she saw the news starting and figured she should watch it, they might know why the two trains had collided.

The theme tune stopped and the anchor started up. "And in tonight's news; Terrorists are at it again, explosions in all major US cities, as well as the capitals of England, Canada and Australia. We have the news from Washington as the President makes his speech. In another day of violence in Iraq insurgent kill 30 US soldiers…" Neela ignored the rest of the news. In the hospital, worried about Ray, she hadn't realised that this wasn't the only other attack. Then she realised the anchor had said something about n attack on London. But it would be nearing midnight in London, she couldn't ring her parents now. She was sure they'd be OK, London was a big enough city after all. But she couldn't stop wandering.

She fell into a restless sleep around 10pm, but was woken at 2 that morning by the 'phone ringing. She struggled to find the 'phone in the dim light, but then clasped it and answered it in a sleep soaked voice. "Barnett/Rasgotra residence"

"Neela?" a distraught voice called down the 'phone.

"Sonita? Why are you calling, it's the middle of the night?" Still too tired to realise the despair in her sister's voice

"It is? Well this is important. You have to come home Neela."

"Why, my home is here, in Chicago, now"

"But, Neela, surely you heard of the attack yesterday?"

"Yes", now Neela snapped to her senses. Something wasn't right. She started to panic, wondering what could have happened.

"Mother and father went to see Rajiv yesterday. They were on the bus that those barmy terrorists attacked!"

"Are they alright?" panic started overwhelming her.

"Father is OK, but Rajiv and Mother are both…" Sonita's voice trailed off, it was as if she couldn't say those dreadful words.

Neela could barely whisper them "dead?"

"Yes"

'Oh my, I can't deal with this now. First Ray, now my parents. What am I going to do,' thought Neela. "Can I call you back later?" she asked Sonita.

"Yes, but we need to know what you're going to do"

"I'll call first thing in the morning, but now I need to get some sleep."

"'Bye then"

"Bye"

But Neela didn't get any sleep. She was tossing and turning all night, and was almost relieved when she had to get up and answer the door at 8 o' clock that morning.

As she opened the door to her flat she saw who it was. Pratt. 'What's he doing here' thought Neela, failing to notice the swollen red eyes.

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Thanks for reading guys. Please review (as ever)And have happy nights to happy days. Upside-down dreamer. 


	3. More bad news!

Hey guys, sorry this is a short chapter, i just wanted to bring all the ends together before moving forward with it. Thank you to all you reviewers out there!

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"Neela, I'm sorry." Neela failed to see the point Pratt was getting at. "It's Michael. I don't know if you saw the news last night but" Pratt faltered, but Neela knew what he was driving at.

"Oh. My. God" Neela was shocked. She stumbled backwards, reaching for the kitchen counter. Who could imagine so much going wrong within the same 24 hours? She downed a glass of water, trying to keep her hands steady. She tried to offer Pratt some water, but he mentioned something about seeing someone and left. 'Lucky it's my day off' though Neela, sarcastically. Actually she'd have preferred doing something, it would take her mind off things. Then, suddenly, grief overwhelmed her. Three people close to her had died in the past 24 hours; she couldn't believe it!

It was about midday when the floods of tears ceased. Then she remembered she'd told Sonita that she would call her back. And she remembered Abby and ray in the hospital and the tears started to stream again. The 'phone rang around 2, and Neela attempted to find composure before answering it.

"Neela" It was Ray's voice.

"Ray?"

"Yes. Could you bring some of my stuff over to the hospital?"

"I'm not really in the-" Ray cut her off.

"Please Neela. Just some small things. And I need to talk to you anyway, it's better if we do it face to face.2

"Alright. But only this once."

"Cheers Neela. Right I need clothes, " Ray promptly reeled off a list of things he needed. Way too many for Neela to remember …"and my guitar"

"Your guitar? What on earth do you need that for?"

"I'll tell you when you get here."

"Fine, I'm on my way."

Neela had no hassle remembering all the things Ray wanted. She wasn't sure that she should go to the hospital, she still had to phone her sister, but she decided doing something was better than nothing, so she set off for County.

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Look Ray's not dead! I don't know what made you think he was. It is very different character who has died. I'm going to stop begging for revviews, but please do anyway. Upside-down Dreamer. 


	4. Choices

I've just looked over some of my earlier chapters, and some of them have some major typos. I am very sorry about that. To clarifyI live here in blightly (aka the UK) and I haven't seen any of season 12. This chapter is slightly longer to make up for my last, short, chapter. Enjoy.

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Neela arrived at County and went up to the ward Ray was on. She was surprised that he was still on an IV, he should be eating and drinking normally by now. He was sleeping so she peaked a look at his chart. Amazed at what she found she dropped his stuff, and half ran out of the room.

She went to the ward Abby was on, and found Abby awake and looking a lot better. "Well, you could've brought me some flowers" joked Abby. Obviously everyone in the hospital had had this idea, from the very large number of vases crammed onto the table by Abby's bedside.

"Not that it matters, I should be discharged tomorrow."

"Oh, that's good news. What are you going to do with the flowers though? There's no room in your apartment for a garden!"

"Most of them will end up in the trash, I imagine. Have you been to see Ray yet?"

"I went up there, he wanted some stuff from our apartment, but he was out of it. I looked at his chart though"

"Really! You know you shouldn't have done!"

"Yes, but, well they seem to have been running a lot of tests on him. Do you have any idea what's wrong?"

"No. Are you sure that they're not routine test?"

"Would you cause a bone marrow biopsy normal?"

"Sugar!"

"What am I supposed to think?"

"Is there a reason you're so worried about him" asked Abby slightly.

"No, but, well, did you hear about Michael?"

"Gallant?" Neela slowly nodded.

"No, why?" Then she the redness surrounding Neela's eyes. "Oh Gosh. No your kidding."

"And it's worse. The bombs in London. My mother and brother were killed there too. Now I'm torn between going home and staying here. I don't know what to do, Abby." The tears started streaming again. Abby hugged Neela. She wasn't one to show much affection, but she really felt for her friend, she had a lot to deal with right now.

Neela and Abby talked for a while. Neela had been attempting to control her grief , but this lead to moments like these when it overwhelmed her. She talked through her options with Abby, and eventually came to the decision that going home would be the best decision, "just for a few days, a week even. But you have to say goodbye properly or you'll never forgive yourself."

So Neela rang all the airlines that flew Chicago-London, finally managing to secure a flight on AA that evening. She didn't have much time, so she rushed home to pack and set off for the airport, flying out before most people knew she had gone.

Ray's point of view: A few hours earlier

It was about half past one when they got Ray's test results back. He had freaked when they asked him if they could do a bone-marrow biopsy, surely cancer wasn't an option, he'd been involved in an explosion on a train, not some sort of chemical weapons attack. But they still didn't know what was wrong with him. They told him he'd have to be in a while though, at least till they knew for sure why he couldn't keep food down, he was so tired, and his white count was so low. Obviously not knowing of Neela's other distresses that day, he decided to ring her and ask for her to bring some of his stuff over. Then the test results came back.

"Ray, I'm really sorry, but your bone marrow test came back positive. We'll be sending you for an MRI to confirm, but we think that you have a tumour in your brain."

Ray nodded, not wanting to say anything. He'd known the risks, his father had died the same way, but he hadn't wanted to get tested. He hadn't wanted to know and now it was getting to a stage where it was likely he'd end the same way his father had.

His mind drifted back to that moment, when he'd been 14 years old. His mother was an alcoholic, but she doted on his father. His father had collapsed whilst working, he was a shift worker at a factory, and been taken in to hospital. That was when they found out about the tumour. He laid in a coma for 29 days before he died; he never woke up. The doctors had told Ray that the condition was hereditary, and asked if he wanted to be tested. He'd said no, he didn't want a 'Best Before' date stamped on his head. But now he wondered. If he'd known before would he have done it all differently?

'Yes' he thought. 'I'd have told Neela how I feel earlier. How I'm always thinking of her when she's not around. How I want to be with her forever. But how long is forever?'

The doctor was still there and explained to Ray about some innovative new treatment which could extend his life by years. But he'd have to be in the hospital for at least the next 5 days so they could monitor him whilst they started the treatment. So, Ray rang up Neela asking him for some of his things. It felt weird asking for her to bring his guitar, but he thought it would also feel weird going 5 days without it. After talking to Neela he started to feel tired. But he wanted to talk to her when she got there, wanted to tell her about the cancer, about knowing finally what he wanted, about so many things that kept jumbling about in his head. So much that it made his head ache.

He feel asleep about 3.00, missing Neela entirely, so it was, at 7.00, when he woke up to find his stuff dumped unceremoniously by his bed that he knew she must have been there. The nurse saw he was awake and came in. "There was a message left for you about an hour ago. A girl called Neela. She wanted me to tell you that she left for London this evening, and that you'd better talk to Abby about it." Ray nodded. He still had a headache, and was still tired. He lay there for a while wondering what had made Neela want to leave for London, but his band mates dropped by to see him, and he spent an hour chatting to them before dozing off again.

It was in the morning that Abby came to see him. She was looking fine, but could see how pale he was. They talked for a while about nothing in particular, then Ray asked Abby why Neela had gone to London.

"She spooked when she saw your chart."

"She looked at it?" Abby nodded. "I wanted to tell her face to face, I didn't want to saw anything over the 'phone."

"So have you. Got cancer I mean." Abby but it very bluntly, but Ray didn't want sympathy. He simply nodded.

"I have a brain tumour. Hereditary, from my dad"

"And I doubt you she told you her other news." Ray shook his head. "Her mother and brother died in the attack on London, and Gallant died in an attack in Iraq".

"Poor her, how's she taking it." If Abby noticed that Ray was, for once, showing real concern for someone other than himself, she didn't show it.

"Pretty badly. She went to London to be with her family. But don't tell her about the cancer until she gets back"

"I wasn't planning too. So have you seen anyone down in the ER?" Talk turned to workmates and other slightly lighter subjects. But Neela bothered Ray, and it bothered him all week whilst he was in hospital. Returning home didn't seem right without her there to nag him about doing the washing up.

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Thanks for reading! Upside-down dreamer 


	5. Avoiding the consequences

hey guys, sorry I haven't up-dated recently. Just a note;I don't really know anything about Sikh death rites, or their posistion on the death of a mother, thus I am making it up. I apologise if it is entirely inaccurate, and I offend anyone. Enjoy

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Neela's point of view

Neela was on the plane back to Chicago. She had spent a hectic week in London, and was now returning home, to attempt to reconcile herself with the death of Michael. Reconciling herself to her mother and brother's fate had been particularly difficult, especially with all their relatives around. She was lucky she wasn't the eldest, and her father hadn't ordered her to stay in London to look after the family. That fate had fallen to her sister, but, with her sister's impending marriage, she knew that he could order her back at any time.

When she arrived at Chicago airport, there other people's family and friends, reuniting with hugs and kisses, but no one there to meet her. She felt an overwhelming feeling of loneliness, collecting her baggage, and hailing a cab. When she eventually arrived at the apartment, it was 8 o'clock, and Ray was no where to be seen. 'Typical' she thought, and set out unpacking.

Ray's POV; an hour later

He hadn't expected her home till the next day, so when he undid the lock on their door, and saw her light on, he spooked. He knew she'd been through a lot, and didn't want to startle her with more bad news, so he tried to walk in casually, grabbing a beer from the fridge and selecting a microwave meal from the freezer. He pulled the packaging off as quietly as he could, but when he shut the door of the microwave it made an almighty crash, and Neela came to see what was up.

"I was trying not to disturb you" said Ray seeing her red, puffy eyes.

"Yeah, it really worked" snapped Neela. This wasn't Neela, she was acting temperamental and agitated. Ray was used to the cool, unemotional Neela, and almost jumped backwards.

"Do you want anything," Ray offered. "Food? Drink?" Neela shock her head. "Oh, come on, you have to have something to drink." He poured a glass of water and handed it to her. Reluctantly she took it and downed it, handing it back to Ray and walking back to her room.

Neela's POV

The next day the tension was still ripe in their apartment. Ray slept in, he'd be working night's for the rest of the week, but Neela was back working that day, and had to get up. Sorting through the post, she found a letter from the hospital, with Ray's name on it. She'd forgotten that he'd been in hospital, and she still didn't know the truth about why. Waking him to demand an answer would be cruel, so she went to the hospital mulling it over in her mind.

Everyone was very helpful at the hospital, Susan asking her on a number of occasions if she really wanted to be there. They gave her a card expressing their condolences, and though she admitted they were all very kind, she spent most of the day in her head. Pratt told her that Michael's parents had received his body and that the funeral would be the following Saturday. Abby tried to cheer her up, joking about how short-staffed they'd been that week, but no one could make her even pretend to smile.

When Ray came in, at their shift change, Neela avoided him as much as she could. She found that hour completely unbearable, but when Sam realised she was still there and sent her home, she bumped into Ray in the ambulance bay. She tried to dash past him, but he saw here and shouted "Neela". She attempted to pretend she didn't hear him, but he caught up to her, and said "we need to talk."

"I know, just, not right now, OK."

"Will I see you at home?"

"Maybe."

Neela avoided his glare and walked off toward the el train station.

Ray's POV

His shift was a nightmare too. He wanted to tell her, didn't know how, and spent the whole time trying not to think about it. When he got home, she was asleep, and he knew he couldn't wake her. 'Is this how it's going to be?' he thought. 'Avoiding the situation because we can't face the consequences.' He had read his letter that morning, but he read it again. It was good news, they'd accepted him for the study, but it warned him that it wouldn't prolong his life by much. 'well that's a nice thing to put in a letter'.

He munched down some food, and attempted to watch the TV, falling asleep in the middle of the news. His eyes flicked open at around 6.00, his body aching from the awkward position he'd slept in. He heard Neela, up and moving around, and muttered to himself, 'time to face the music.'

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Upside-down dreamer. xx 


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